Langkawi, Malaysia

Since I didn't travel home for the holidays, I decided to treat myself to a pre-Christmas trip in the region. After looking for cheap plane tickets, I finally settled on Langkawi, Malaysia. One of my friends came along to keep my company and take pictures for me. 

Langkawi is an archipelago of small islands off the Northwest coast of Malaysia, just next to the Thai border. It's a popular weekend destination for Singaporeans and Malays. While I'm not always up for such resort living, I decided to give it a go and see what the draw was. I found a small resort that seemed interesting, and I booked three nights in a wooden house. 

I was pleasantly surprised when I showed up and saw the condition of my room. It was a traditional wooden house that had been adapted to become a hotel room. The house was lifted above ground on posts, and it was very airy. The air conditioning wasn't very effective, but the windows caught sea breezes perfectly. 

Anyway, I'm not good at lounging in my room, so I had to visit the beach. It was quite beautiful... but very, very hot. 

The next day I rented a motorbike to travel around the island. Look at my sweet ride. 

The first stop was the Langkawi cable car, which goes from a spot near the beach to the top of one of the mountains. It's quite popular, and there was a two-hour line. Fortunately for me, my friend and I were rushed to the front of the line because they needed two more people to fill a car of four. My friend blames our luck on my white skin. Apparently I stand out. 

The view was pretty impressive. At the top of the mountain is a walkway where you can go to take pictures. 

The breeze on the mountains was a welcome change from the heat and humidity at the beach. In the distance we could see some of Thailand. The picture isn't very clear, but the islands in the distance are Thai. I was also pleased to run into a number of Thais working on Langkawi. 

After making it back down the mountain, we rode the motorbike in a circle around the island. There are beaches everywhere. I forgot the name of this one. 

There's also a black sand beach where most of the residents are fishermen. They had all docked their boats when we passed. 

Personally, I didn't think the sand was really all that black. It was just darker than the white sand on the other side of the island. Still pretty, though. 

On the way back to the resort, we took a detour up Gunung Raya, the highest peak on Langkawi. We were hoping to see the sunset from the mountain, but clouds had already surrounded the peak. I had to settle for a semi-obscured sunset from a lower point on the mountain. 

Still was nice, I guess. I mean, when you're on a tropical island for vacation, can you really complain that the clouds don't cooperate for your sunset picture? Yes. I suppose you can. 

I had to take a picture with the sign that said we were 2,000 feet above sea level. Didn't realize I looked like such a goof. Oh well, I guess I wasn't trying to impress anyone. 

The next day we took a boat trip to visit some of the surrounding islands. It was nice. 

One of the islands we stopped at was called the "Pregnant Woman" island. In the middle is a fresh-water lake. Local legend says that to swim in the lake can help women become more fertile. I decided a dip couldn't hurt. 

At another island we got to watch sea eagles dive into the water. No pictures unfortunately, as my camera is not good at such shots. 

The final island was white sand beach. Quite pretty. If I weren't so white and prone to getting sunburned, I could have enjoyed the beach a little longer. Curse my tender pale flesh! 

Well, it was nice trip. I also got to make friends with some cats at the resort. 

One decided to move into my bungalow. I repeatedly kicked it out, but every time I opened the door it ran inside and took up residence on one of the chairs. I eventually gave up and accepted that I'd be sharing a room with a cat. It also joined me for breakfast each morning. You can see it here sitting opposite from my spot at the breakfast table.